TheCinera:
Alot of new faces to look at, new names to learn, and a new winner to crown. Ahh Survivor season is back!!! And it looks like we have 4 tribes again!!!

puddin:
Four tribes divided by race !!

puddin:
CBS ANNOUNCES 20 NEW CASTAWAYS FOR "SURVIVOR: COOK ISLANDS"

Twenty New Castaways Set To Compete When The 13th Installment Of The Hit Television Series Premieres on Thursday, Sept. 14

Ethnically Diverse Cast To Initially Be Organized Into Four Tribes Divided Along Ethnic Lines

CBS today announced the 20 new castaways who will compete in SURVIVOR: COOK ISLANDS when the 13th installment of the Emmy Award-winning series premieres Thursday, Sept. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SURVIVOR: COOK ISLANDS will feature the series' most ethnically diverse cast to date. The castaways will initially be organized into four tribes divided along ethnic lines (African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic and White) before merging in a later episode.

In addition, throughout the series, at least one castaway each episode will be banished to a separate island (Exile Island) miles away from camp. While being separated from the tribe is not desirable, the castaways will learn that there is a hidden Immunity Idol somewhere on Exile Island. If found, this Immunity Idol could save an individual from being voted out at a future Tribal Council.

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Castaways that will be competing in SURVIVOR: COOK ISLANDS (in alphabetical order) are:

"We're going to take some heat for it," says creator and executive producer Mark Burnett of the twist, which was announced Wednesday morning. "But it's a great cast."

For a show entering its 13th season with steady ratings but ebbing buzz, the decision could be a shot in the arm if it once again generates Survivor water-cooler chatter.

"Some people will think this is controversial. Others will think, 'What's the big deal?' " host Jeff Probst tells PEOPLE. "Either way, it's going to be very interesting."

Along with the usual real-estate agents and struggling actors, the cast of characters competing for the $1 million purse includes a heavy-metal guitarist, a female police officer who has been shot in the line of duty, a Vietnam War refugee who manages a nail salon and a gay fashion director for a denim company.

The segregated Survivor grew from an effort to diversify a show that has featured primarily white contestants (and winners – only two of the 12 winners have been minorities). "We've taken a lot of flack," says Burnett.

But Probst says the main reason for the Emmy-winning show's largely white complexion was a dearth of minority applicants. "Most of the people who apply are white," he says. "That's just a fact."

In response, the Survivor casting team scouted for a more diverse group of players everywhere from the Internet to audition tapes for another CBS show, The Amazing Race.

Until the tribes merge later in the season, the four teams will battle each other and, perhaps, racial stereotypes. "There are going to be people looking for stereotypes: Will this tribe be smarter than this tribe, or will this tribe be faster than this tribe?" says Probst. "That's why I think it's fun. But five people on a tribe do not represent an entire ethnic group."

Set in New Zealand's Cook Islands, the location of the famous mutiny on the HMS Bounty, this season features a pirate theme, including Tribal Councils held on an elaborate shipwreck set built into the rocky coastline of a local island.

Whether one ethnicity ends up plundering – or walking the plank – "This is a game that starts very even," says Probst. "Everybody starts the same way with the same materials and the same chance: a 1-in-20 shot at a million bucks."